The Rave Allor Chronicles
by Legomancer
Summary: A young Jedi Knight, fighting in the waning days of the Clone Wars, is thrown off course by the untimely Order 66. Barely surviving, he must reinvent himself to reflect a changed galaxy.
1. Chapter 1

Explosions and gunfire littered the swamp. Rave struggled to keep his footing as he made his way towards the tunnel complex. It was a mixed blessing, the battle. The bog moon of Bogden was certainly not the best place to set up a communications outpost, let alone attack. Still, Rave _was_ on this mission because he'd finally reached the status of Jedi Knight, and thus was hastily made a Jedi Commander. In reality, the clone commander did most of the talking, but that didn't stop Rave from making some decisions of his own. _He _had found the perfect place to land (a small clearing, surrounded by swamp bushes that provided some camouflage), and _he_ was technically leading the attack. Using the power of the Force, he was guiding his clone troopers through the winding tunnels that eventually led to the central hub. They were forced into the tunnels because the outside shell of the complex was protected by scores of missile droids and other anti-air installations. Attempting to go over the complex was suicide.

Rave's forces were greeted most unwelcomely by a platoon of battle droids, which would've been worse if those blasted droids weren't so expendable. Blaster fire broke out, creating a laser-laced no man's land. Rave considered sending in jet troopers to attack from above, but the thought of them being shot down by the missile droids made him shudder. And this wasn't the only tunnel entrance attempting to be breached; the central hub was connected by dozens of seemingly identical tunnels. This battle would last a while, and Rave was too impatient to let this drag on any longer. Whipping out his lightsaber, he turned to Commander Duaki.

"Duaki, I'm going to try and take out some turrets around the entrance, it could allow some aerial strikes through. Any commandos to spare?"

"Only a few, sir. Good luck."

"No such thing, Commander!" And with that, he rallied what commandos were nearby and began his trek through the swamp.


	2. Chapter 2

It occurred to Rave that this might not work, he could certainly feel repercussions to attacking armed missile droids at close range. However, an aerial strike could provide the edge they needed to break through to the tunnels. As they crawled through the murky marsh, Rave suddenly motioned to the commandos to stop. A new sound was becoming audible over the battle, and he was beginning to figure out why he'd felt hesitant in the first place.

All at once, a squad of muckrackers tore through the marsh, opening fire on the commandos. Muckrackers, better known as crab droids, were four-legges droids about 1.5 meters tall (on average, depending on the variant) and a well-placed shot to the central head was enough to short them.

They were extremely quick, however, dashing about in a zigzag fashion that was hard to follow. Rave ignited his lightsaber, a crisp _FSSSH_ noise that revealed an emerald blade, and swiped at a nearby muckracker, slicing it clean in half. A commando bravely leapt on top of another, and fired his blaster at point-blank range, effectively shutting down the droid. Two other commandos attempted to confuse a crab droid, as it couldn't decide which clone to take out first. Rave took advantage of its confusion to run up behind it, stabbing his blade into the crab droid's head and shorting it. The remaining crab droids were easily dealt with.

_That wasn't much of a threat at all,_ pondered Rave. _If not them, then what?_

As if on cue, a missile bore down on the group, detonating and scattering them. Rave had forgotten that they were now in the range of the missile droids, and it became all too clear that they'd been spotted.


	3. Chapter 3

Rave tumbled into a pool of muck, dodging the missile. Glancing around, he pinpointed the droid responsible, a lone missile droid. Missile droids were rather clumsy looking in appearance, their only offensive capabilities being the dual missile launchers replacing their arms, therefore lacking any anti-personnell weapons. At a distance, however, they proved to be lethal, able to target enemies both organic and mechanic and launch smart-missiles that honed in on the target. Rave reached out with the Force, knocking the missile droid over and incapacitating it, but it wasn't the only one to have spotted the group. As more missile droids began targeting them, the battle droids on the ground began taking notice as well. _Cover's blown,_ thought Rave. _Now what?_

Then, an idea struck Rave like a gundark's fist to the stomach. Activating his wrist comlink, Rave dove behind a tree for cover and established contact with the Republic encampment. Lieutenant? Send in an aerial strike to the droids by my position now! he ordered.

But sir! the lieutenant responded. The missile droids have yet to be dealt with!

A missile exploded nearby. I'm the one calling the shots around here, lieutenant! The droids are distracted, an aerial strike should catch them off guard!

Static. Then: As you wish, sir.

Rave turned to his commandos. "Keep distracting them, it's our only hope!"

Less than a minute later, several ARC-170 fighters whizzed through the overgrown trees, strafing the tunnel surface and unloading a payload of bombs onto the battle droids before withdrawing from the battlefield. Explosions deafened the area, and before the dust could settle, clone troopers charged headlong into the fray, yelling incoherently with guns blazing. Rave couldn't help but sigh with relief, as he regrouped and accompanied his troops into the dimly lit tunnels. The real battle, though, was yet to come, and Rave sensed it.


End file.
